


The Red Scarf Of Fate

by bewdifuldragon



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, Angst, Character Death, F/M, Romance, Tragedy, i feel the need to apologise for this, sad things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-05 20:53:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11021391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bewdifuldragon/pseuds/bewdifuldragon
Summary: Another murder has taken place, and another classmate must be put to death for it. But surely it can't be her. Not her. Anyone but...her. Rivamika! DR setting with AOT characters.





	The Red Scarf Of Fate

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to dodon0 on Tumblr for this prompt! I had to make a whole entire AU in my head to complete it and to be honest, I had way too much fun. I won't go too into specifics about who's dead and who isn't at this point, aside from what the story calls for; however, I have determined who would be in this class despite most of them not appearing in the fic. At this point I can't tell if I'm kidding or not with half of these talents but here we go anyway:
> 
> Levi – Ultimate Soldier
> 
> Mikasa – Ultimate Guardian
> 
> Erwin – Ultimate Leader
> 
> Hanji – Ultimate Scientist
> 
> Armin – Ultimate Bookworm
> 
> Eren – Ultimate Lucky Student
> 
> Jean – Ultimate Ladykiller (Not really. His actual talent is unknown because he refuses to let on; he just tells everyone this is what it is)
> 
> Marco – Ultimate Freckles (He beat Ymir for this by an inch)
> 
> Sasha – Ultimate Hunter
> 
> Connie – Ultimate Eating Contestant
> 
> Historia – Ultimate Princess
> 
> Ymir – Ultimate Liar (It was a little nicer than "Ultimate Bullsh*t Artist)
> 
> Annie – Ultimate Hand-To-Hand Combatant
> 
> Reiner – Ultimate Blacksmith (Don't ask me why I just feel like he'd be good at it?)
> 
> Bertholdt – Ultimate 3DM User
> 
> It should come as no surprise that this is a Rivamika thing and very feels-heavy, so...enjoy? I apologise in advance.

One hour. That was all it took to turn Levi's world upside down; to take what remained of his hope and joy, what little he'd held onto in this god forsaken place, and _crush_ it.

One. Freaking. Hour.

Even when this whole killing game began, Levi hadn't been too concerned for his own life. He certainly had no plans to commit murder; and just let anybody _try_ to take him out. Perhaps it was selfish; but survival demanded a bit of selfishness. Naturally his heart broke a little more every time he stumbled across the corpse of one of his classmates, or heard Monokuma's body discovery announcement, or whenever he was forced to watch someone he'd nearly considered a friend executed in cruel, unnecessarily ironic circumstances.

_But,_ he'd always tell himself – _but at least it's not me. And at least it's not her._

Mikasa was the only person he knew in this whole school before he'd shown up at the front gates, passed out and woken up to this rediculous Mututal Killing scenario. They'd been children together; growing up side-by-side since they were in kindergarten. On their first day, some freakishly tall older brat had stolen Mikasa's ball and held it high above her head to torment her. Levi had been only so close to stepping in, when the young girl casually kicked the bully in the shin and took her ball back as he dropped it.

Unhappy, the kid tried to grab Mikasa as soon as she turned away. Levi did interfere then, knocking the boy to the ground. Mikasa picked up on the situation quickly and together, they wrestled the bully into submission. Of course, being the spoilt prat he was, he ran straight to the teacher afterward, crying about how these maniac babies "attacked" him. Levi and Mikasa were both put into time out, but it was no matter; for a bond had been forged between them in that simple playground scuffle, and no bully dared mess with either ever again.

Levi was thankful for that bond – a privilige only the two of them (and another pair, not that that was relevant anymore) held in these hallways full of strangers – as it bought them a unique sense of comfort. They had each others backs. Neither would commit murder, and neither would fall victim; they were as safe as anyone could hope to be in this game, and as long as that was the case, they would get out of this thing alive.

At least, that was what he told himself so he could sleep at night.

Their numbers slowly diminished, and following each Class Trial, a new floor was open to the dwindling student body. Going from an entire classful of students comfined to one level, to a handful of students with growing access to the school was a harrowing and almost surreal experience. Once upon a time, you could turn a corner and bump into somebody. Now, you could pheasably walk around all day and meet nobody.

However, there was a silver lining to it all, no matter how slight. Now that they were few, the muders had come to a screeching halt. They had all been through so much together, it was now impossible to find one among them who wasn't more desparate than ever for the bloodshed to end. At the last class trial, they'd all made a vow that the murders would cease: no matter the motive Monokuma would present next, they simply _refused_ to participate. The bear had just laughed that unsuitingly cute little _upupupu_ of his and carried about his business like he knew better, but they'd sure showed him. A week on, and there was no sign of anyone pulling back on their promise. It seemed they were in the clear. But then –

_Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong!_

"This is a school announcement! A body has been dicovered! I'm sure you little snot-nosed babies know the drill by now. Investigation, then trial! I have a feeling this won't take very long."

With that criptic comment, Monokuma disappeared from the screen in the library, where Levi had been looking for his latest project to pass the endless days here. Upon those words reaching his ears, though, he dropped the stack in his arms and took off as fast as he was physically able. He hadn't seen Mikasa all day. Could she-? But no. He couldn't think like that. She was way too smart and skilled to fall victim to this game.

And thank whatever deity was listening he was proven right. He ran almost smack-bang into the girl herself moving down the hallway, her hands in her pockets, and her eyes fixed pointedly on the floor.

"There you are! So you're alive at least. Then who-"

Mikasa held up a hand to silence him. "Not now. Investigation first," She said quietly. Then, like the bear himself had remarked: "I have a feeling this won't take very long."

**XXX**

Monokuma didn't give them much time to investigate, and upon seeing the scene of the murder, Levi knew why. Because they wouldn't need it.

This crime scene was the sloppiest yet. The killer left all kinds of evidence strewen around the place; evidence that lead to only one plausible conclusion. But Levi simply refused to see it. Even the Ultimate Solider is prone to fits of emotion, and his just couldn't wrap around what he saw before him. Instead, he made himself believe this was the real killer's way of throwing them all off their scent. And when Mikasa took his hand in the elevator and squeezed it gently, it wasn't a goodbye at all. No, it…it was a comfort. She knew it too. She'd been set up. It was the only explanation he would accept.

"Don't worry," Levi whispered. "We'll find this fucker."

"I'm sure you will," she mumbled in return as the elevator doors opened.

Once everyone gathered in their usual places, Monokuma opened with his typical explanation of the Class Trial, then Erwin Smith, the Ultimate Leader, began with a summary of the case. Or rather, he tried to.

"Alright, as we're all aware, the victim was Ymir, the Ultimate Liar. Now would be a good time to present any evidence you may-"

"No need." Mikasa spoke up from her podium, her eyes bravely wandering the room, settling on each individual apart from Levi. "I confess."

"You what?"

"You heard me, Erwin. I confess." She leaned against her railing and finally settled her stare on Monokuma. "I thought it was suspicious that, a week on, you hadn't given us another motive. I've been trailing you everywhere you appeared around the school for a whole week – and just yesterday, I overheard an interesting conversation.

"You've sunk to many depths this past month or whatever it's been – but making Ymir believe that somehow Krista was sill alive even though we _saw_ her corpse; making this distraught young woman believe, really and truly, that if she could pull off the perfect murder against one of our toughest she would earn back her love, was _low_ , even for you."

Coming into this school, Krista and Ymir were the only pair besides Mikasa and Levi who knew each other beforehand. When Krista's body had been found at the bottom of the blood-stained pool, Ymir had been beyond distraught. And to make matters worse for the girl, all the evidence seemed to point to her at first. Only Mikasa and Levi believed in her innocence from the beginning. The day after the Class Trial, Ymir had seemed to bounce back to her usual, dry humourous self; but they knew better. Of course they did. Mikasa and Levi only needed to look at one another and imagine how they'd feel if it was the other who had been found in such a state to know that.

"Upupupu! Would _I_ tell such a vicious lie?" Monokuma teased playfully, but Mikasa wasn't having it.

"You would and you did!" Mikasa argued. "I…I _had_ to stop her! I knew it would result in this. After all, if I didn't kill Ymir, he might've been in danger – either she would've killed him, or he might've killed her on accident defending himself and been executed for it. She'd die anyway. He…didn't have to. Not as long as I could do something about it. I never planned to get away with it – if I did, you'd all be executed in my place, and then what would the point have been? It has to go like this. There's no other way."

"Wait, wait." Erwin held up a hand to stop her. "I have a hunch, but I'd like to know for sure – just who is _he_? Who are you doing all this for, exactly?"

There was no question, and therefore Mikasa felt no obligation to answer. She just looked across the trial room at Levi with an apologetic stare. "I'm sorry. I know we swore we would get out of here alone. Looks like I couldn't keep my promise."

"The Ultimate Guardian is living up to her name, I see! Such despair! This is _almost_ enough to make up for this trial being so terribly short and disappointing. It's not the outcome I hoped for, but it's one I can live with. Shall we proceed to voting?"

"No we shall not!" It seemed Levi had finally recovered from the shock of it all and come to his senses. "This…this is bullshit! Listen, I've known Mikasa forever, she's no murderer. I don't know _why_ she's going along with it, but there has to be a reason. There's no way she's guilty."

While Levi made her case for her, Mikasa clamly walked around the circle and put a hand on his shoulder. "That's enough. It's over. Don't make it any harder than it needs to be."

Levi stepped off his podium and stood face-to-face with his best friend. He didn't know what to say so he stared at her blankly while she gently brushed his hair out of his face.

"Listen to me." Her voice was soft, calm. Coloured with that sweet tone he'd come to rely on during late-night angst-ridden phone calls and deep, meaningful conversations by the seaside. "I swear I'll walk away from this with no regrets, if you promise me one thing: don't blame yourself. Don't you ever, and don't blame Ymir either. This was the mastermind's doing. Find that bastard and make them pay."

Levi's throat had gone dry, but he didn't cry. He didn't tremble. He stood firm. "I won't vote against you. I won't send you to your death."

"You don't have to – it's a majority vote." She kissed him on the cheek softly, and whispered a parting remark in his ear, before returning to her podium. "Let's do this."

And the vote was nearly unanimous.

"Right on the nose!" Monokuma declared gleefully. "Naturally our Levi couldn't bring himself to vote for his babyhood bestie, but no matter – it's punishment time!"

Mikasa walked calmly through the large steel doorway towards her death with her head held high. What she found waiting for her was a replica of her kindergarten playground.

**[** _The Red Scarf Of Fate_ **]**

**She looked around the barren, grey copy of her own memory to see what cruel fate awaited her, and was met with an unnaturally tall recreation of the bully she had that runin with all those years ago – only he had Monokuma's face. He grabbed her by that red scarf she always wore around her neck and hoiseted her up, dangling her from the basketball hoop.**

**Mikasa went quietly – she didn't scream or squeal or shout – but she didn't go easily. She kicked, pulling at the scarf, trying in vain to lower herself from that terrible height; even as her breath left her body and she grew weaker and weaker. Even as her strength left her and her windpipe was crushed by her very own most treasured item. Even as her world faded to black, and she remembered all the people and places she'd never see again. Her fate was cruel, but no one could say Mikasa Ackerman didn't go down fighting.**

"…"

Levi watched it all, every last millisecond, from behind the rusted chain fencing, unblinking and unmoving. He saw her struggle, and admred her spirit, even in…this. And he kept his eyes on her until her frantic movements slowly grinded to a halt, and she hung limp, unmoving, and undeniably dead.

When it was over, he wordlessly headed back into the trial room to face Monokuma.

"That was a brave thing you did, loverboy," the bear said casually. "But so you know, just because I'm _here_ , doesn't mean I'm up for voting. I'll let it slide this once, but I won't be so merciful next time."

"You knew she'd do that," Levi accused. "Either my life would be in danger, or more likely, Mikasa would find out and intervene.

"Either way, I broke up the only other golden duo left!" said Monokuma delightedly. "I swear, this is the sweetest kind of despair I've seen since you lot arrived here."

"And _I swear_ -" Levi lowered himself to the bear's height and spoke in a voice so low and deadly, even Monokuma shook a little. "I'm not talking to this overglorified build-a-bear anymore, I'm talking to whoever the fuck is controlling it – I'm talking directly to _you_. I will find you, and I will make. You. _Pay_. For Mikasa, and all our fallen classmates. Count on it."

With that threat in the open, Levi turned on his heel and stormed to the elevator without looking back. His suriving classmates followed, piling in after him. Nobody spoke during the ride up. Depite being the shortest class trial so far, it had been one of the hardest. No one knew what to say about it.

So when the ride was over, the other survivors quietly headed towards their respective dorms. Levi, however, walked towards the school's sealed entrance, where he and Mikasa would spend hours at a time brainstorming ways to break down that giant steel door and claw their way back to the outside world.

He settled on the cold ground and pulled his knees to his chest, just like she used to. The shock hadn't worn off yet, and he knew when it did, the grief would hit him like a train. And hell would it ever _hurt_. He couldn't bring himself to work out what to do next, or to wonder what his future would hold; or even if he'd meet the same fate. All he could think about in that moment were her last words to him.

"Step into the sun again, Levi. Get out of here – get out of this hellhole with everyone else, and when you do, step into the sun and think of me."


End file.
